Richmond 91, Air Force 68

RICHMOND, Va. -- Kendall Anthony made seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points Wednesday night, leading Richmond to a 91-68 rout of Air Force.

The 5-foot-8 Anthony, inserted into the starting lineup in place of injured big man Derrick Williams, missed only twice from beyond the arc in topping his previous high of 24 points. Darien Brothers added six 3-pointers and 25 points for the Spiders (10-5), who snapped a three-game losing streak.

Michael Lyons led the Falcons (8-4) with 19 points, but Air Force was taken out early after an explosive scoring burst by Anthony.

He followed a 3-pointer by teammate Deion Taylor with one of his own. After Terry Allen scored on a drive for the Spiders, Anthony hit again from behind the arc. After a free throw by Kamryn Williams for the Falcons, Anthony hit two more 3s, then made a steal and layup to give Richmond a 39-23 lead.

In all, he scored 14 of the Spiders' 19 points during a 19-5 blitz, and got the last eight in a matter of 26 seconds.

Brothers, who scored Richmond's first seven points of the game, then scored their last nine of the half to make it 48-30.

The first-ever meeting of the schools was a reunion of sorts for Spiders coach Chris Mooney, who spent five seasons at Air Force, the last one as head coach, before coming to Richmond for the 2005-06 season. The Falcons arrived ranked ninth nationally with an average of 9 3-pointers per game, but had just one in the first half while the Spiders had 10 on 15 attempts. Anthony was 5-for-6 and Brothers was 4-for-6.

The Spiders made 12 of their first 17 3-point tries and finished with a school-record 16 3-pointers in 26 tries, breaking the mark of 15 3s accomplished twice previously. In all, they shot 54.7 percent from the field (29 of 53), and 61.5 percent (16 of 26) from behind the arc.

Air Force finished just 4 for 14 on 3-pointers and shot 43.1 percent (22 of 51) overall.

In the second half, Anthony's three-point play got the scoring started again, and Brothers followed with a 3-pointer and a three-point play. It was the start of a 17-6 burst that made it a runaway, allowing Mooney to give some playing time to players who rarely see game action.

Air Force had scored six points in a row to get within 20-18 midway through the first half before Anthony caught fire.